Paul Lynch

Developers have been given the green light to build 1,000 homes and double the size of a village outside Northampton after the Secretary of State upheld their appeal.

Northampton Borough Council turned down the Homes and Communities Agency’s bid for the houses just outside of Hardinsgtone in May 2014, because of fears it would clog up the roads and destroy an area of countryside

A group of residents from Hardingstone delivered 700 letters to the planning department at the Guildhall.

The Agency appealed the council’s decision and a nine-day planning inquiry was held last June.

But the Department for Communities and Local Government has now upheld the appeal - giving the green light to effectively double the size of Hardingstone.

Giving his decision Stuart Baillie, said he agreed that the development “would have certain adverse effects on the character and appearance of the area.”

He also shared the view of planning inspector Richard Clegg, who chaired the inquiry, that the 1,000 homes would “cause a large-scale change to the landscape of the site and the nature of the footpath.”

However he went on to say that this would only create “moderate harm.”

Many were worried that the surrounding road network would be swamped by the development.

But the Secretary of State said that “with the mitigation measures proposed, the transport effects of the development can be accommodated on the network.”

The decision will come as a crushing blow to the residents of Hardingstone who have campaigned for nearly three years to halt the proposals. More than 1,500 wrote in letters of objection to the plans and several gave heartfelt speeches at the June planning inquiry.

But the document goes on to say that the borough council’s lack of a five-year housing supply was a major factor in deciding to grant the appeal.

The borough previously estimated that losing the appeal would cost it around £300,000 in legal fees.